Sharing my life, as a natural vegetarian Mrs., with all the hits and misses

Menu

Monthly Archives: September 2016

Post navigation

Sadly (I’m sure this excites you), this is the last installment in the series of prepping for homeschool preschool. I have one more tip: Don’t forget you!

You’ve thought so much about your little or littles and their needs, interest and wants; your wants for them, how you will help them navigate this year but have you thought about you? Have you prayed for you? Asked others to pray for you?

Did you put teacher tools on the back-to-school shopping list? Are you prepared? Did you get coffee, creamer, tea? Did you make your work out schedule? Meal plan to relieve stress in the evening?

You are just as integral, if not more, to this venture than your kids/students. If you aren’t together, neither will they.

Trust me, this is hard for me but we have to make us a priority. Don’t forget about you!

I’m back with more homeschool preschool and it’s time to get excited!!!

Can you feel it? You have researched, lesson planned, organized, gave up, got back on the proverbial horse, maybe made a circle time wall and now, the first day is almost here!

Let’s party!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Something to help get the excitement in the air?

Decorate! Put up a cute banner, a back to school door hanger or try a different table cloth. Anything is possible and it’s up to you.

Get school supplies! Crayons? Paint? Construction paper? Make a list and hit the stores! You can also find fun ways to organize it! Don’t forget sales and the dollar store to make this cost effective!!

Finally, spread the excitement! Someone, somewhere wants to celebrate with you! Find a community of support and rally with the troops!

I’m back with another installment of my homeschool preschool series. This week, we are talking visual effects. I will say this now, a circle time wall is not a necessity. This is totally optional and chances are, your circle time will look totally different than mine. And guess what? That’s totally awesome!

You remember how I talked about the Internet being a great resource? Well, it didn’t quit at lesson planning. All of my circle time items, were free and I printed them from my phone, so they were very easily accessible as well.

How did I compile my wall, you ask?

I started with knowing me and my child. He doesn’t need a bunch to look at and touch and I didn’t want a bunch to look at. I wanted everything to be used regularly and for play and education purposes. I also understood that some things would come later, like the weather.

So what did I print? What did I do I after I printed?

My circle time wall consists of a:

1. Peg board ($5-Target)

2. Months of the year

3. Days of the week

4. Dates of the months

5. Number flash cards

6. Letter flash cards

7. Dry erase board (purchased previously at a great price)

Again, everything I printed on cardstock (Walmart) I had left over, cut them out and laminated them. I chose to laminate because my child is slowly learning gentle and that paper not being laminated, will die painfully and quickly. Lamination is the difference between hospice and ICU in our house.

Back to the circle time wall…

It was also important to me to add to a visual schedule to help all of us. It takes team work to keep this house running and we all need reminders. Plus, the visual schedule will help James with transitions.

Ok, so, remember when I said our walls should look different? I really want you to do what works for you so I’m not posting the exact links of my items. I will post the websites and you can do what you want with that. I will also share photos of my wall only so you can see how minimal it can be.

Here are the sites. Until next time!

teacherspayteachers.com (To download you will have to create an account. Some items cost money but prices are very reasonable.)

pintrest.com (I’ve pinned some things that you may like, follow me @hitswiththemrs)

I’m back with my third installment on how I prepared for homeschool preschool. This week I want to take a break from guiding you to encouraging you. I know I went from super excited and eager to anxious and nervous.

“I have another baby coming. How on earth am I gonna do this?”

“2 kids, under 2… Who’s idea was this?”

“I’m getting a job. And a cleaning lady.”

“Oh crap! Literacy is on me.”

Those were very honest and real thoughts I had, minus the swear words.

I guess I just got overwhelmed by my responsibility level in all of this. Not to mention, I’m one who always has in the back of her mind that someone else can do this better. But, I had to build a bridge and get over that. Nobody knows my kid better than me. They may think they do and I want to hysterically laugh in their face, but they don’t. It’s ok to own that.

That didn’t ease the overwhelming thoughts. So, I took a break. Not a huge one but enough for me to recharge. I focused on something else for a little bit. Sharpened some skills, gained some confidence, and came back at this guns blazing.

You see, nobody is going to remember if I forgot something but me. Honestly, nobody is going to remember if I have a stellar teaching day but me. So rain or shine, I’m going to succeed and so are you!

I could do all the physical planning in the world, but if my mind doesn’t believe I’m going to succeed, my heart won’t be in this and then, I’ll really fail. So, we are going to succeed!